Visit Wilderness

Search for a wilderness as the destination for your next outdoor adventure.

Bob Marshall Wilderness Area, Minnesota

Why Visit Wilderness?

While wilderness can be appreciated from afar—through online content, television, or books—nothing compares to experiencing it firsthand. Activities like camping, hiking, or hunting allow you to fully enjoy the recreational, ecological, spiritual, and health benefits that wilderness areas offer. These areas provide “outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation,” chances to observe wildlife, moments to renew and refresh, and the physical benefits of outdoor exercise. In many wilderness areas, you can even bring your well-behaved dog.

Learn more about the diverse ways in which we benefit from wilderness and threats wilderness areas face today.

Mt. Skokomish Wilderness is located in the southeast corner of Olympic National Forest, just north of Lake Cushman.

Two long ridges here, running roughly northeast to southwest, support several bold rocky summits and numerous sharp spires. The northern ridge rises to Mounts Skokomish, Lincoln, and Cruiser, with ragged Sawtooth Ridge, popular for its excellent rock-climbing opportunities, stretching between Lincoln and Cruiser. Elevations range from about 2,000 feet to 6,434 feet on Mount Skokomish, which anchors the northwest boundary. The southern ridge includes the summits of Mounts Pershing, Washington, Rose, Ellinor, Jefferson Peak, and Tran Spire, all interesting and often challenging climbs.

Between the ridges lies the headwaters basin of the Hamma Hamma River, which gathers its waters from Mildred Lakes and tributary streams in the western portion to flow east across the Wilderness.

Magnificent old-growth western hemlock, western red cedar, and Douglas fir dominate the forest in the lower elevations, providing a shady home for elk, black-tailed deer, black bears, and mountain lions. Higher elevations display firs, pines, and dwarf juniper, and open rock faces alive with marmots and mountain goats (which look like pockets of old snow from a distance).

Most of the area is wild and ruggedly free, penetrated only by four short and wondrously neglected trails. The Putvin Trail crosses the northeast corner of the Wilderness, climbing steeply up Whitehorse Creek to gorgeous Lake of the Angels inside the park. The faint Mildred Lakes Trail runs to Mildred Lakes below the Sawtooth Ridge. Short, trails provide access to Mounts Rose and Ellinor in the southern portion of the area.

Lakesides have suffered abuse, and campfires are not allowed near bodies of water.

Leave No Trace

How to follow the seven standard Leave No Trace principles differs in different parts of the country (desert vs. Rocky Mountains). Click on any of the principles listed below to learn more about how they apply in the Mount Skokomish Wilderness.

Plan Ahead and Prepare
Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
Dispose of Waste Properly
Leave What You Find
Minimize Campfire Impacts
Respect Wildlife
Be Considerate of Other Visitors

For more information on Leave No Trace, Visit the Leave No Trace, Inc. website.

Location

Maps

Digital and paper maps are critical tools for wilderness visitors. Online maps can help you plan and prepare for your visit ahead of time. You can also carry digital maps with you on your GPS unit or other handheld GPS device. Having a paper map with you in the backcountry, as well as solid orienteering skills, however, ensures that you can still route-find in the event that your electronic device fails.

Online Maps

Interactive Map of the Mount Skokomish Wilderness
FS Topographic Map
Google Earth

Washington Wildernesses

Printed Maps

Fetching MyTopo from Database

USGS Store

Rules & Regulations

Motorized equipment and equipment used for mechanical transport is generally prohibited in all wilderness areas. This includes the use of motor vehicles, motorboats, motorized equipment, bicycles, hang gliders, wagons, carts, portage wheels, and the landing of aircraft including helicopters.

Wilderness-Specific Regulations

Learn more about why regulations may be necessary in wilderness.

Contacts

Applicable Wilderness Law(s)

Public Law 98-339

Date: July 3, 1984
Acreage: 15,686 acres

Washington State Wilderness Act of 1984 - Public law 98-339 (7/3/1984) To designate certain National Forest System lands in the State of Washington for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System, and for other purposes.

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 98-339 or special provisions for 98-339 or legislative history for 98-339.

Public Law 99-635

Date: November 7, 1986
Acreage: -2,671 acres

(No official title, revise boundaries of Olympic National Forest wildernesses) - Public law 99-635 (11/7/1986) To revise the boundaries of Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest in the State of Washington and for other purposes

For more information (To download or see all affected wilderness areas) visit our law library for 99-635 or legislative history for 99-635.

Want to Volunteer for Wilderness?

People who volunteer their time to steward our wilderness areas are an essential part of wilderness management. Contact the following groups to inquire about volunteer opportunities. Groups are listed alphabetically by the state(s) in which the wilderness is located.